Regret And
by half-goddess-Katia
Summary: It's been six months since the final battle, since Eiji and sacrificed everything, and Ankh can still remember it like it had been just yesterday.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kamen Rider OOO, and I am making no money off of this. This is solely for my own and other's entertainment.

**AN: **So, this is my take on what might've happened had Ankh not acted when he did during the final episode…

**AN 2:** So…it's been a while since I've actually _finished_ one of my OOO stories…I've got a bit of a backlog of half-finished ones that I _really_ need to finish (and maybe I will now that I'm back in classes and my muse has returned as well)

**Warnings: **Angst (lots), character death, and implied past shonen-ai

_**Regret And…**_

As Ankh kneels in front of the gravestone, he still can't believe it's been quite six months since the final battle. That it's been six months since Eiji sacrificed everything to end the battle once and for all. He still wonders what would've happened that day if he had reacted just a bit quicker, if he had acted before Eiji had.

He can still remember it like it had happened just yesterday, and when he closes his eyes, Ankh can clearly see the last moments of the final battle. He remembers Eiji calling on the powers of the purple Cores after King's medals had been destroyed. He should've acted then, but between his injuries from earlier slowing him down and the shock of Eiji doing something so _stupid_, he'd hesitated a bit too long. The brunette had been engulfed by a Greeed form for the second time, and Ankh could only watch as Eiji had charged Maki, using his own wings to carry both purple Greeed into the void that had been created by the unstable Uva. The next thing he knew, the whole thing had blown up with enough force that it had knocked him back, causing him to rap his head smartly against the ground. He had barely enough time to wonder if maybe this was it, if the shockwave would be what broke his own consciousness's Core for good, before he blacked out.

Ankh remembers seeing, as he woke, a semi-transparent version of Eiji – who had smiled in that way he had only ever had for the blonde – for just a moment before he disappeared. He had wondered at that for a moment before he heard a groan from beside him and shot up, eyes moving to the side to find…Shingo still unconscious beside him. Looking down at himself, Ankh had realized he still looked as he did when he possessed the cop, and he felt whole, completely real and more in-tune with his senses than he'd ever thought possible. When he'd closed his eyes and felt for his Cores, he felt their presence – all _ten_ of them – though it was muffled and the call for _more_ that usually came from them was entirely absent.

Whenever he thought back on it, Ankh wondered if he had, just maybe, actually seen the brunette in his last moments when he had first woken up. He had known, back then, that Eiji had found some sort of desire to hold onto, something that had allowed him to stop the purple Cores from taking over completely, though he hadn't known what, exactly, it had been at the time. Looking back Ankh couldn't help but wonder if the gathering of so many Cores, whole or not, and medals in one place had created a power that had been harnessed by the brunette – all of the power focusing in on the single, stronger concrete desire in the midst of the void – to create a miracle of sorts. He thought he understood now what Eiji had held onto because he'd done the same – grabbed onto the bond they'd had and never really let go, always concerned for the other even when they were at odds. It would explain why he was now – for all intents and purposes – completely human as he would've done the same – given _himself_ up to keep Eiji human – if he'd been given half the chance.

It may have been hard for the other who had known them both to understand – hell, he and Eiji had struggled with it half the time – but their bond had been something no one could deny. Eiji had understood him, had known him better sometimes than Ankh knew himself, and he had known Eiji in the same way. They had ever put what was forming between them into words, there hadn't seemed to be a need to when their actions seemed to speak for themselves, and Ankh hadn't been entirely sure what to say anyway so he had let the matter lie. He had never expected that to be his biggest regret.

And if there was one thing he disliked about being human, it would have to be that one emotion. Regret was such a _stupid_ notion too, so completely useless. No matter how many times he relives those last moments and regrets not realizing what Eiji and planned and not acting before it was too late, it changed _nothing_. No matter how many times he thinks back further, remembering all the things they'd left unsaid, and regrets being too stubborn and willfully oblivious to admit to what was happening between them, he can never _fix_ it. No matter how many times he ponders over the mistakes that they both made that had led to the inevitable conclusion, it never _helps_ anything. All this stupid emotion did was cause pain – emotional instead of the physical he could understand and deal with – and yet it couldn't cause him to stop caring for – _loving_, though he hardly even admitted it to himself – the brunette who had given him his permanent human form – in fact, it only made it more clear in his mind, and Ankh couldn't be sure if that much, at least, was more of a curse or a blessing.

Standing up again, Ankh brushed dirt off his knees as he continued to stare at the headstone of the one who had meant everything, even if he hadn't realized it soon enough. Taking a deep breath, the blonde turned and began to slowly walk away as he came to a decision. He may hate having to live with the regret, but he also wasn't stupid. Eiji had obviously wanted him to live and experience life as a human – it seems to have been the thing the brunette had coveted most if he'd read things correctly – and he wasn't about to waste the other male's sacrifice.

He may always have to live with the regret, but he would since that wouldn't be the only thing he carried in his memories of his partner. They would always be together in his heart, regret and love.


End file.
